continental imperatives: the african charter...
TRANSCRIPT
CONTINENTAL IMPERATIVES -
THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND
ADMINISTRATION
DRIVING PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATION
Steven H Isaack Office of the Prime Minister
Namibia
INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW
• Pan-African Conference of Ministers for Public/Civil Service
• Specialized Technical Committee No 8 of the African Union Commission
CONTEXTUAL OVERVIEW • Introduction of new form of governance: viz. interactive policy-making and
citizen engagement;
• Need for broad understanding and appreciation by all stakeholders;
• Accessibility to all sectors of African Society and global community;
• Widely communicate the relevance and value of the Charter;
• Contents need to find expression and meaning in the actions and lives of public/civil servants and citizens;
• Realization of the African Union Shared Values Agenda.
RATIONALE BEHIND THE CHARTER
Consolidation of commitment collectively taken by African Member States to:
• Improve public service delivery;
• Combat corruption;
• Protect the rights of citizens as users of public services;
• Promote good governance and sustainable development on the Continent
LONG-TERM STRATEGY (LTS)
• The Vision is to build Capable Developmental States in Africa over a long-term period of ten years;
• The vision is consonant with and reflects, amongst others, the future planning around capacity development for African Union Member States;
• It emerges from realization that short- term capacity development interventions have diverted attention from the development of a long-term strategy for public administration capacity development.
AGENDA 2063 – THE AFRICA WE WANT
• “…innovation for a knowledge society” (Aspiration 1)
• “…innovation and entrepreneurship” (Aspiration 6)
• Setting a new trajectory that will enable us to meet “people’s aspirations”
MODERNIZATION OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION
• Public Service and Administration shall facilitate the introduction of modern and innovative procedures and systems for the delivery of its services.
• Public Service and Administration shall ensure that modern technologies are used to support and improve the delivery of services.
• Public Service and Administration shall simplify its procedures and ease formalities related to access and delivery of services.
PROFESSIONALISM
• Public Service Agents shall demonstrate excellence and innovation in their performance of duties.
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
State Parties to capacity development programmes to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of Public Service and Administration. Emphasis on:
- leveraging of knowledge networks to strengthen capacities of public service agents;
- providing working tools and creating conducive working environment for the application of new knowledge;
- putting in place mechanisms and processes for the exchange of expertise, knowledge, information, technology and best practices.
RECOGNITION & AWARD SYSTEM
• State Parties shall institutionalize a transparent and impartial system for recognizing outstanding performance, creativity and innovation in Public Service and Administration.
• The Commission shall promote innovative experiences and institute a system of awards for Innovation in Public Service and Administration
ESTABLISHMENT OF AAPSIA
• The All-Africa Public Sector Innovation Awards (AAPSIA) is one of the
thematic areas;
• Conceptualised during the 4th Pan-African Conference of Ministers of
Public/Civil Service held in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2003;
• Officially launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the 5th Pan-
African Conference of Ministers of Public/Civil Service in December
2005
AAPSIA
• First ceremony was held in 2008 during the 6th Pan- African Conference of Ministers;
• Second ceremony concluded and hosted in 2011 in Kenya;
• Third ceremony held in 2013 in Congo-Brazzaville.
WHAT IS AAPSIA?
• The first Africa-wide awards programme that celebrates innovation in the public sector;
• The programme recognizes and rewards the achievements of public servants and their partners from the private and not-for-profit sectors who have successfully developed innovative solutions to service delivery and governance challenges;
• The aim is to cultivate an enabling environment within the public sectors for the development, and nurturing of innovative ideas and implementation of innovative initiatives.
HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANISATION
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“The experienced employee of the 20th century is being replaced by the innovative employee of the 21st century as an enterprise’s most valued asset”
CRITICAL DRIVERS FOR INNOVATION
• Entrepreneurial spirit;
• Willingness to commit resources to innovation;
• The method to do this; and
• The right type of organisation.
INTRAPRENEURSHIP
Can be defined as “organizing and managing a new and creative enterprise inside government”
• Difficult to sustain without an organisation-wide commitment;
• Support self-designing and self-managing teams.
“Ideas and conflicts get suppressed by a form of ‘teamwork’ that meant playing along and not rocking the boat rather than working as a team to generate the best possible results”
Wind and Main (1998:11)
INTRAPRENEURSHIP
Leads to:
• Initiating and facilitating action that would otherwise not occur;
• Activating unutilized resources;
• Inspiring and supporting non-routine behavior;
• Reorienting and recombining material and human resources to achieve outcomes that had previously been impossible.
CRITICAL ENABLERS FOR INNOVATION
• Changed attitudes and mindsets;
• Ownership of the African narrative and brand;
• African approach to innovation, development and transformation;
CRITICAL ENABLERS FOR INNOVATION
• Nurture entrepreneurship and encourage innovation;
• “Lead from where you are” as opposed to “leading from the front.”
BENEFITS FOR AFRICA
• Many individuals and institutions in African governments have developed creative solutions that have changed the lives of their citizens - not known or shared
• Innovation Awards programme facilitates the identification and recognition of those extraordinary achievements for learning and replication
- prevents us from re-inventing the wheel, duplicating initiatives & wasting resources
• Putting Africa on the international map through showcasing of new tools for public administration that are constantly emerging
- through AAPSIA the continent is acknowledged as the generator of home-grown processes and practices
BENEFITS FOR AFRICA • Cease to be viewed as “consumers of best practices” to be amongst
“creators” and thus contributors to the growing body of knowledge on public administration & governance
- repository of good practices and good governance – available to the world for research, learning & development of new initiatives (greed for our solutions!) • Promotes regional integration - builds relationships and new partnerships
that will result in new initiatives and collaborations amongst countries and across regions (as we pursue post 2015 Agenda)
At Country level - profiling your country before you are profiled at a cost (else packaging is done for you) Principals get to know about your achievements for the first time, in isolation (away from offices)
LAST THOUGHTS
• Trust in your own solutions – they address your challenges;
• Move beyond competition – learn from one another;
• Get passionate, exciting people to drive innovation;
• Solicit political and senior management buy-in.
OUR FUTURE IS PAN-AFRICAN
I THANK YOU!
COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Plenary Session